MPD: 18 armed robberies in D.C. in last 4 days, 11 in NW

In response to a drastic spike in armed robberies throughout the District of Columbia, with many of them concentrated in lower-crime Northwest neighborhoods, MPD is deploying 200 additional officers to robbery detail.

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The announcement comes a day after an 11th armed robbery since Monday was reported in the Petworth neighborhood on Thursday night.

That robbery happened just hours after three other armed robberies in a span of three hours struck the Dupont Circle and Petworth neighborhoods on Thursday morning, including on Decatur Street, on M Street not far from the White House, and at 20th and N Street near Dupont Circle.

Detectives are still on the hunt for suspects in those robberies and nearly a dozen more unsolved crimes, some of which date back to December.

Although most of the robberies have been after dark, some have been during the day.

One D.C. Council member says residents will be less of a target if they don’t talk on cell phones or use headphones while walking.